Bill-delivery mechanism for meters.



Patented Jan. 18,1910

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

R. W. GALLAGHER. BILL DELIVERY MECHANISM FOR METERS. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 9, 1904. RENEWED JUNE 12,1909.

2 SHEETS-S BI] Patented Jan. 18, 1910.

\I\IIIII\IIIY an hm M UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RICHARD WM. GALLAGI'IER, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR TO AUTO- MATIC BILLING COMPANY, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, A CORPORATION OF CALIFORNIA.

BILL-DELIVERY MECHANISM FOR METERS.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patentd Jan, 18, 1910.

Application filed. March 9, 1904, Serial No. 197,245. Renewed June 12, 1909. Serial No. 501,873.

To all whom it'may concern:

Be it known that I, RICHARD W. GAL- LAGHER, a citizen of the United States, residing at San Francisco, in the county of San Francisco and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bill-Delivery Mechanism for Meters, of which the following is a specification. 4

My invention relates to a bill delivery and recording device for gas or electric meters,-

the object of my invention being to provide a cheap and simple attachment to a meter by means of which a customer may at any time obtain an automatically rendered bill for the amount of gas or electricity consumed since the last delivery, and which will at the same time record all such bills so rendered, such records being adapted to be removed by an employee of the company furnishing the gas 'or electricity, and being in a form readyfor immediate filing, saving the necessity of entry of the same and economizing in the time and labor spent in bookkeeping.

In the accompanying drawing, Figure 1 is a front elevation of a gas meter equipped with my improved attachment, the front face of the attachment proper being re: moved; Fig. 2 is a vertical section on the line AA of Fig.1; Fig. 3 isan enlarged vertical section on the line B--l3 of Fig. 1 looking in the opposite direction to Fig. 2; Fig. 4: is a horizontal section on the line CC, of Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a horizontal section on the line DD of Fig. 3 parts being broken away, Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail vertical section of a side of the supporting plates for the record sheets, and said record sheets thereon; Fig. 7 is an enlarged front elevation of one of the dials: Fig. 8 is a cross section on the line EE of Fig. 4L

Referring to-the drawing, 1 represents a gas meter having a suitable number, as four,

of indicator dials 2 on the face thereof.

Around each dial plate is a metallic ring 3 having inwardly projecting points 4 corre' sponding in number with, and opposite to, the numerals on the dial plate. Upon the end of the rotating hand 5 is secured a flexible metallic brush or wire 6 adapted to contact with said points 4 in succession and to bend and pass the same. The contact rings of all the dial plates are connected by wires 7 with a common conductor 8. This conductor 8 leads to one pole 9 of a battery 10 in a compartment 11 in the lower portion of my attachment, and from the other pole 12 of said battery leads a wire 13 to the upper portion of the attachment, there passing through the top cover 14 of the register case 15. Within said register case it is connected with four wires 16 which are connected respectively with binding posts of four small magnets 17. Contacting with the pivot pin 18 of each dial hand 5 is a brush 20 to which is connected wire 21, the four wires 21 being connected severally with the other binding posts of said magnets 17. These magnets are arranged in pairs in the register case at the ends of a series of vertical register wheels 22. Said register wheels are mounted upon a common horizontal shaft 28, and each wheel contains on its periphery the raised numerals O to 9 corresponding with the numerals on the dial plates. Each wheel has also formed on one side thereof a'ratchet wheel 24 of smaller diameter, having ten ratchet teeth. 25 are horizontal pivot bars one on each side of said series of wheels and 26 represent levers pivoted on said bars in pairs. To economize space and allow the register wheels to be placed close together while permitting of sufficient diameter being given to the magnets, these magnets are arranged as shown at the ends of the series of wheels, and the levers 26 are arranged alternately on opposite sides, two on each pivot bar. Each lever carries on its outer end the armature 27 of the corresponding magnet, and to its inner end is pivotally attached a pawl 28. The end of the lever to which the pawl is attached is made heavy so that said end normally drops, but it is raised when the magnet is energized by the passage of the current attaching the armature. The pawl is pressed into engagement with the ratchet teeth by a spring 29. Upon the bottom of the register case are secured four spring dogs 30 which engage the ratchet teeth and prevent the wheels turning backward. The bottom of the register case is cut out to allow the lower portion of the register wheels and the raised numerals to project below the register case so that said numerals may be used for taking an im: pression therefrom. The operation of this part of the apparatus is therefore as follows: When any one ofdhe hands on the indicator dials arrives opposite to orte of'thellf) - wheels correspond in .position with the pointers on the dials. Said register case slides vertically in a rectangular frame 31 being normally drawn upward by springs 32 attached to said register case and to the top of the frame. A stem 33 is secured to the top of said register case and projects through a hole in the top of the frame having a suitable handle on the upper end thereof to enable the register case to be pressed down. When it is so pressed down the raised numerals upon the register wheels come into contact with the upper one of two sheets of paper 34, 35, which pass over a suitable plate or support 36 secured to the frame. Between said support and the lower sheet 35 is a sheet of carbon paper 37, and between the two sheets is also a second sheet of carbon .paper 38. Therefore upon each sheet of paper is produced a record, by means of said carbon sheets, of the numerals standing in the registering position upon the registering wheels. Said sheets pass from rolls 39, upon which they have been wound. The upper sheet 34 passes from the roll 39 over the plate 36, then around a winding roller 42. The lower sheet 35 and also the two sheets of carbon paper pass from the roll 41 over a second plate 40 which lies slightly beneath the first plate and within an oblong opening therein and then also around the winding roller 42. A rectangular groove or trough 45 is formed in the plate 36, the sides of which rectangle are close to, but outside of the said oblong opening. The re ister case 15 has a depending rectangular hange 47 formed with sharp lower edges, as shown at 46 (see Fig. 6), and when the register case is pressed down in the manner above described these cutting edges descend into the rectangular trough and cut out an oblong piece of paper from the upper sheet 34. The oblong piece so cut out having marked thereon the statement of the quantity of illuminating agent consumed is carried forward by the record sheets and carbons and passes over a narrow plate 55 having a sharp edge 56 extending into close proximity to the plate 36, the upper sheet 34 passing down between said sharp edge and plate 36. Said oblong piece with the bill thereon is thus immediately delivered to the customer through a slot 57 in the side of the casing. The sheet 34 is of greater width than the piece so out out so that this sheetis wound up on the winding roller together with the lower sheet No cut is made in the lower sheet or the carbon sheets because the plate 40 over which they pass are within the rectangular trough. Said winding roller is advanced after each depression of the register case in the following manner. To one end of the case is secured a bar 48 which passes through the plate 36, and at its lower end has secured thereto a pawl 49 which engages a ratchet wheel 50 on the same shaft as a gear wheel 51 meshing with a pinion 52 on the shaft 53 of the winding roller 42. Thus, when the register case rises under the action of the springs, the winding roller advances sutliciently far to shift the record papers to bring a fresh portion thereof, having suitable printed matter thereon, within the cutting edges 46 to cut out a bill showing the amount of gas or electricity used. At the same time an impression of this amount is recorded on the lower sheet which is wound upon the winding roller and can afterward be removed by an employee of the furnishers of the gas or electricity, and filed for reference.

A door 60 admits of access to the record sheets for the purpose of removing the same, and for this purpose, the ends of the shafts next the door are received in half bearings 61 supported upon the case, the other end of the winding shaft being square as shown at 63 and received in a square socket in the pinion.

In the casing opposite to the portion of the record sheet which is descending from the supporting plate to the winding roller, is a glass panel, as shown at 64, through which at any time the bill last rendered can be noted. By this means, the consumer has is applicable to all kinds of meters including not only as and electric light meters, but others and I claim the same as applied to all meters.

By the word continuously in the claims, it is not meant that the meter shaft should be unceasingly in motion or that the motion shall be absolutely continuous, but merely that its motion shall be continuous relatively to the motion of register wheels, which advance through one-tenth of their revolution at each step.

The invention claimed herein is restricted to the feature whereby the record sheet is automatically cut and severed from the remainder of the sheet; and I make no claim herein for the construction whereby the recording wheels are advanced intermittently from the continuous motion of the meter shaft, the latter construction forming the subject of an application now pending.

I claimr 1. The combination of a continuously movable meter shaft, a series of register wheels, means for intermittently advancing the first wheel of the series in proportion to the continuous advance of the meter shaft, means for intermittently advancing each of the remaining wheels of the series at'each complete revolution of the preceding wheel thereof, means for simultaneously taking the impressions on wheels, means for automatically cutting out from the sheet the part thereof receiving the impressions; advancing the sheet, scribed.

12. The combination of a meter, register wheels, means for maintaining said wheels in correspondence with the quantity measured by the meter, a roller for winding upper aid lower record sheets, means for bringing said register wheels and sheets together to obtain an impression, means for cutting outthe part of the upper sheet receiving the impression, and means for separating the part so cut from the remainder of the sheet, and means for advancing the roller to wind up the sheets, substantially as described;

3. The combination of a meter, register wheels, means for maintaining said wheels in correspondence with the amount measured by the meter, a case for said wheels having cutting lower edges, a plate below the register case, having a trough correspending in size and shape with the cutting edges, means for advancin a record sheet over said plate, and means or bringing said substantially as dea record sheet, from said and means for automatically.

plate and cuttin edges together, substantially as describe 4. The combination of a meter, register wheels, means for maintaining said register wheels in correspondence with the amount measured by the meter, a register case for said wheels having cutting lower edges, a plate below said register case over which a record sheet can pass and having a trough corresponding in shape and size with the cutting edges and having a part cut out within the trough, a second plate within the cut out portion of the first plate over which a second record sheet can pass below the first plate, means for moving the cutting edges down upon the sheets, and means for thereby automatically advancing said. sheets,

substantially as described.

5. The combination of a meter, register wheels, means for maintaining said register wheels in correspondence with the amount measured by the meter, a register case for said wheels having cutting lower edges, a plate below said register case over which a record sheet can pass and having a trough corresponding in shape and size with the cutting edges andhaving a part out out within the trough, a second plate within the cut out portion of the first plate over which a second record sheet can pass below the first plate, a carbon beneath each sheet, means for moving the cutting edges down upon the sheets, and means for thereby automatically advancing said sheets, substan t-ially as described.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

n. WM. GALLAGHER.

Witnesses FRANCES M. WRIGHT, Bnssm Gonrinnnn. 

